Cabinet construction



Feb. 23, 1943. L. E. DEMPSEY x-:rAL 2,311,645

CABINET CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 14, 1959 Patented Feb. 23, 1943 CABINETCONSTRUCTION Lawrence E. Dempsey, Oak Park, lll., and Rudolph F. Skerl,Euclid, Ohio, assignors of onehall' to Sears, Roebuck and Co., Chicago,Ill., a corporation of New York, and one-half to The Murray OhioManufacturing C0., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation o1' Ohio ApplicationAugust 14, 1939, Serial No. 290,020

3 Claims. (Cl. 312-141) This invention pertains to cabinets and isconcerned more particularly with those formed of sheet material such assheet metal.

In the construction of sheet metal cabinets, it has been customary inthe past to form the body portion of three pieces, comprising the sidewalls and the rear wall, necessitating two lines of welding. The weldingis an important item from a cost standpoint. It has been proposed toform the body in a single piece, but the cost of dies and process ofconstruction necessary in such case has been found to be prohibitive.

It is an object of our invention to provide an improved process ofmaking sheet metal bodies for cabinets and like purposes whereby thecost of manufacture is substantially reduced.

It is another object to provide a cabinet construction comprising one ormore doors mounted on concealed hinges yet adapted to be swung open 186.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of concealedhinge construction for a cabinet door.

It is also an object to provide an improved means for obtainingornamental eiects in cabinet and other constructions.

It is also an object to provide an improved sunken handle constructionfor cabinet doors and other devices.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

The invention will be better understood upon reference to the followingdescription and accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a cabinet constructed in accordance withcertain features ci the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken substantially asindicated by the line 2-2 view of a handle structure embodying theinvention, taken as indicated by the line 6 6 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by the line'I-'I in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of a modied handleconstruction.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by the line 99 in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by the lineIU-Iii in Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated bythe line II-II in Fig. 1.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary elevation taken as indicated by the line I2-I2in Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary plan view taken as indicated by the line I3--I3 in Fig. 12.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is shown generallyat I4 a cabinet illustrating the invention. said cabinet comprising abody I5 having left and right sections I6 constituting in eiectcomplemental halves of the body. The sections I6 have side panels Il andintegral rear panels I8 overlapping as at I9 at preferably the verticalcenter of the rear wall and integrally joined as by spot welding orother welding 20, riveting or any other suitable means throughout theheight of the body.

In forming the sections I6, suitable dies and breaks (not shown) areused, and such apparatus is readily adjustable to obtain various sidepanel and rear panel dimensions by varying the size of the sheet ofmaterial used, as is understood by those skilled in the art.Accordingly, in the process of forming the cabinet body according to ourinventionI no new forming apparatus is needed. The making of the body ina single piece is unfeasible for the reasons, among others, that theforming operations and die structure are complex and expensive and that,in many cases, standard sizes of sheet metal produced in accordance withstandard mill practice do not include the great width necessary in suchcases, the maximum standard width being 48 inches. With the presentinvention, instead of using two sheets which terminate at the rear closeto the bends and adding a third sheet for connecting the first two, weemploy only two sheets, which overlap at the back. The threepiececonstruction thus requires the formation of one extra piece and also anextra welding job. The elimination of the extra piece and the extra lineof welding results in a substantial saving (about 15% or more) in thecost of manufacturing the body.

Another feature of the invention embodies the support of the doors insuch manner that the doors may be opened substantially 180 instead ofthe conventional angle of approximately The cabinet may have one or moredoors. `two being illustrated for exemplary purposes at 2|.

These doors are hinged at 22 and 23 to the top or roof 24 and base 25.It will be observed that the top 24 has an embossed portion 26 whichprojects forwardly of the front plane of the foremost portions 21 of thebody sections I5. It will likewise be observed that the base 25 has aforwardly embossed portion 28 likewise projecting forwardly of saidplane. It is therefore evident that in accordance with this inventionprovision is made for the swinging of the doors completely out of theway without exposing any hinge construction whatever. A furtheradvantage of the construction referred to is that the embossed portions26 and 28 afford reinforcement for the respective parts upon which theyare formed.

The hinge construction shown generally at 22 comprises a pin 29 whichmay be mounted either in a door or in the cooperating stationary part 24of the cabinet. As shown, it is mounted in the door 2|. Any suitablemounting may be employed, although the mounting shown is preferred. Thiscomprises a supporting member 30 which may serve as a cornerreinforcement for the door flanges 3|. This member is preferablyL.shaped in development, providing arms preferably welded to the innerfaces of the cornerforming door flanges 3|. One arm 32 of said member iscurled to form an eye 33 in which is welded or otherwise fixed the hingepin 29. The horizontal flange 3| of the door has an opening 34 throughwhich the free end 35 of the pin projects. The juxtaposed flange 35 ofthe cabinet top has a hole 31 alcove which is welded or otherwisefastened a washer or sleeve serving as a bearing for the end 35 of thepin.

The cooperating hinge structure shown generally at 23 is quite similarto that above described, except that it employs a different pin 38having an arm or handle portion 48 by means of which the pin may bemanipulated, the pin preferably being removably tted in the lower eye 33and the opening in the base boss flange 4| and the bearing 42 weldedthereon. The arm 40 limits the penetration of said pin. The eyes of eachdoor are axially alined.

Each door is readily assembled with the cabinet body by firstmanipulating the door so as to insert the pin 29 upward into the topopening 31 and bearing 38, swinging the door to aline its lower eye withthe bearing 42, and then inserting the pin 39 in the lower eye and thealined bearing 42. The door in operative position rests on the flange4|, and when it does there remains between the door and the top flange36 a slight clearance 43 which does not detract materially from theappearance of the cabinet and yet is sufficient, to enable the door tobe assembled with the body as explained above and to be disassembledtherefrom should the occasion require.

An additional feature of the improved cabinet construction embodied inthis invention resides in the provision of multitone ornamentation. Tothis end, any suitable part, preferably a door, is formed withperforations 45, the walls defining which are preferably flangedbackward, as at 4B, to impart substantial depth to the perforations.Behind said perforations is secured a back plate Y. 41 suitably securedto the door as by a strap 41a which may be Welded in place as at 41h orsecured in any other suitable manner. The plate 41 has an exposedsurface 48 preferably contrasting in color with the exposed surface 49of the door to provide the desired ornamental effect. The back plate mayassume any desired shape depending among other things upon thearrangement of the perforations, and may be conveniently and securelymounted in place as by means 50 passing through a flange 5| in the plateand the flange 3| in the door, the flange 3|, if desired, defining thefree longitudinal edge of the door. The back plate 41 may beadditionally anchored by means of a flange 52 thereon and a portion 53of a handle member, with which iiange and portion suitable screw means54 or other suitable fastening means cooperates. The back plate 41 mayhave its ornament-providing surface 48 substantially flat so that, withthe walls of the perforations 45, they form wells, as shown in Fig. 3.If desired, as shown in Fig. 4, the back plate 55 may project so as toterminate forwardly flush with the surface 49 as shown at 58, theportions 56 in such case being embossings on the plate 55. Or, as shownin Fig. 5, the door as shown at 2|a may be dat and perforated as at 45a,the back plate lying flush against the door.

Also in accordance with the invention there is provided an improvedhandle construction which preferably terminates forwardly Asubstantially iiush with the forward surface of the door. One form ofsuch construction is shown in Figs. l, 6 and 1. It comprises a handlemember'll which is in the form of a shell tted in an opening 6I in thedoor. The shell may have its upper portion 53 in substantial engagementwith a rearwardly bent upper portion 6| on the door and its lowerportion 62 under and in engagement with a similar flange 53 extendingrearward from the front of the door. If desired, the flanges El and 63of the door may be spot welded or otherwise suitably secured to theadjacent upper and lower portions 62, respectively, of the shell 60. Atsaid opening, the door is provided with rearwardly extending flanges 65,the lateral portions 51 of the shell respectively straddling the doorflanges 55. The top portion 53 has a forward extension 69 which is bentdownward in substantially flush relation to the adjacent front surfaceof the door, and has a beaded edge 10 which terminates adjacent theupper ends of the flanges 65. There is thus formed a pocket or recess 12in the shell and the fingers of a person may be slipped into the recess12 as the person grasps the handle portion 69, whereby the door may beconveniently manipulated about, its hinges 22 and 23. The lateralportions 61 of the shell may be conveniently secured as at 14 to theflanges 65. The means 54 for anchoring the ornamental back plate 41 or55 may be employed to serve as additional anchoring means for thehandle.

In accordance with another form of handle construction included in theinvention, the door may be formed with a depression in its front faceadjacent the longitudinalfree edge flange 8| so that the corner 82 ofsaid edge is interrupted as shown in Fig. 8, and said flange deflning aborder 83 of said depression formed with a rabbet 84 extendinglongitudinally and transversely within the flange. Said rabbet alsoextends in the front portion 85 of the door from the flange. A handlemember for use in this construction may be of angular form as shown at81 to conform to the angle between lthe flange 8| and the front portion85 of the door, and the configuration of the handle member is such thatit seats in the rabbet as shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, the thickness ofthe handle 81 being substantially equal to the depth of the rabbet sothat, when properly seated, the exposed surfaces of the handle aresubstantially ush with the adjacent exposed surfaces of the ange 8| andfront portion 85 of the door. 'I'he depression 80 is bridged by thehandle member 81, and the portion 9| of the handle member extending atthe front of the door terminates in an edge 92 which may be beaded as asafety measure and which is substantially spaced from the portion 93 ofthe depression most remote from the ilange 8|, leaving ample clearance94 for the admission of one's fingers, whereby the portion 9| may begrasped as a handle for manipulating the door. The handle may be securedin place by threaded means 95 or any other suitable means.

The various parts other than hinge pins and fastening means arepreferably formed of sheet material such as sheet steel although anyother suitable material may be employed if desired. The various phasesof the invention involve extremely simple construction requiring aminimum of parts which are produced by simple stamping or screw machineoperations enabling the cabinet as a whole to be constructed atsubstantially lower cost than is true of past cabinet constructions. Thehandle constructions in addition to being simple and attractive arecapable of being embodied in a variety of esthetic designs withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention. It will be observed thatthe means for anchoring the handles in place are substantially concealedfrom view inthe use of the cabinet.

The exposed surfaces of the handles 80 and 81 may be colored to contrastwith the exposed surfaces of the doors with which the handles areassociated. For example, white enamel doors and black enamel handlesprovide an attractive contrast.

Various modications may suggest themselves to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of our invention, and, hence, we donot wish to be restricted to the speciiic form shown or uses mentioned,except to the extent indicated in the appended claims, which are to beinterpreted as broadly as the state of the art will permit.

We claim:

l. A cabinet construction comprising a frame member, having a rearwardlyextending horizontal flange and a hole through said flange, a bearingsleeve vsecured to the unexposed side of said iiange with the bore ofsaid sleeve in line with said hole, a door having angularly relatedrearwardly extending horizontal and vertical flanges meeting at a cornerof said door, a reinforcing angle member joined to the inner faces ofsaid door iianges, the horizontal flange of said door having a hole, thevertical arm of said angle member being curled into an eye whose bore isalined with said hole in said door, and a hinge pin secured in said eyeand disposed in said holes and bearing sleeve.

2. A cabinet comprising a sheet metal body having a back and sides andhaving front portions projecting toward each other from said sides, atop cover plate resting on and projecting upward from and substantiallyflush with the back, sides and front portions of said body, said plateintermediate said front portions having an overhanging portionprojecting forwardly of said front portions, a base closing the bottomof said body and on which said body rests, said base projecting downwardfrom and substantially flush with the back, sides and front portions ofsaid body, said base intermediate said front portions projectingforwardly of said front portions and being substantially coplanar withthe corresponding forwardly projecting portion of said top plate, and apair of exposed doors, each door connected to each .of said forwardlyprojecting portions by hinges spaced forwardly from said front portionsa suflcient distance to enable said door to open substantially 180, saiddoors, when closed, being coplanar with said forwardly projectingportions, said hinges being concealed when said doors are closed, saiddoors while hinged and closed being disposed within the width of saidbody.

3. A cabinet comprising a sheet metal body having a back and sides andhaving front portions projecting toward each other from said sides, atop cover plate resting on and projecting upward from and substantiallyflush with the back, sides and front portions of said body, said plateintermediate said front portions having an overhanging portionprojecting forwardly of said front portions, a base closing the bottomof said body and on which said body rests, said base projecting downwardfrom and substantially flush with the back, sides and front portions ofsaid body, said base intermediate said front portions projectingforwardly of said front portions and being substantially coplanar withthe corresponding forwardly projecting portion of said top plate, and adoor connected to said forwardly projecting portions by hinges spacedforwardly from said front portions a suicient distance to enable saiddoor to open substantially said door, when closed, being coplanar withsaid forwardly projecting portions, said hinges being concealed whensaid door is closed, said door while hinged and closed being disposedwithin the width of said body.

LAWRENCE E. DEMPSEY. RUDOLPH F. SKERL.

